Yes, America has its 250th birthday this year — but the second-most important milestone surely has to be our annual Most Anticipated NASCAR Races List, which turns 5 today.
Aww, they’re so cute at this age.
If you’re new here, before each season we rank the NASCAR races we’re most looking forward to — from No. 1 to No. 38 — based on the following criteria:
• How curious will we be to see what happens in this race?
• How much will we care about this race by the end of the year?
• What kind of an impact will this race have on this season (or beyond)?
As a reminder, the previous season’s rankings were not consulted before compiling the new list — which means any similarities to last year’s rankings are just a coincidence.
OK, let’s get into it.
1. San Diego (June 21)
A NASCAR race on a Navy base in the aforementioned 250th birthday year! With a circuit that passes by aircraft carrier docks! On beautiful Coronado Island! With the San Diego skyline in the background across the bay!
This is going to be a NASCAR race that will be remembered for years, just based on the creativity and uniqueness of the venue. Nothing else can top this as No. 1.
Last year: Not ranked (new race)
2. Homestead (Nov. 8)
The NASCAR season finale in the return of the Chase for the Cup! Anticipated? Yes, absolutely. We’ll be talking about Homestead all season as the track will crown the NASCAR champion for the first time since losing its traditional slot after the 2019 season.
Homestead is back as the last race in the same year the Chase has returned. Perfect timing. Can’t wait.
Last year: No. 27
3. Chicagoland (July 5)
Another blast from the past as Chicagoland Speedway, once left for dead, will return to the Cup Series schedule on the big 250th birthday weekend.
When Chicagoland closed after the 2019 season, I’m not sure I would have ever guessed there’d be so much support to see it return. Except it turned out NASCAR’s Next Gen car puts on phenomenal shows at intermediate tracks like Chicago and — unlike Fontana (RIP) — the track was still in good enough condition to get the place spruced up and race-ready again.
Hopefully, if it races well and the fan support follows, the track will become a mainstay on the schedule again.
Last year: Not ranked (not on schedule)
4. Daytona 500 (Feb. 15)
In announcing the demise of NASCAR’s win-and-in championship system, NASCAR president Steve O’Donnell said he didn’t like how drivers would get out of their cars after winning the Great American Race and immediately be faced with talk about making the playoffs. The Daytona 500 should be able to stand on its own, after all.
Now it will. Daytona will be our first chance in the return of the Chase to hear a driver simply talk about winning the race rather than what it means for the playoffs, and we couldn’t be happier about that.
Last year: No. 4
5. Southern 500 (Sept. 6)
This is not only NASCAR’s second- or third-most prestigious race (depending upon who you ask), but also the opener for the 10-race Chase.
Given all the hype and buildup that will lead to the new championship format this season, it’s tough to find many events that will feel more anticipated than this one.
Last year: No. 11
6. Talladega 2 (Oct. 25)
In the old Chase format, Talladega’s ominous race was scheduled in the first half of the playoff six times and never later than Race No. 33. That meant if a championship contender found themselves caught in the Big One, there was still a decent amount of time to recover.
But now? Talladega is this season’s Race No. 34 — even later than Phoenix! — which means there will be just two races remaining when the checkered flag falls in Alabama. This could really swing the title battle.
Last year: No. 7
7. Charlotte 2 (Oct. 11)
In some terrific news broken last month by our Jordan Bianchi, Speedway Motorsports is opting to run its fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the oval instead of the “Roval” infield road course.
Think about how compelling that will be as the second half of the Chase begins. The title field will have been narrowed, and the best of the best will be going head-to-head in a traditional oval race instead of the landmine of a Roval course. How it should be!
Last year: No. 12 (Roval)
8. Martinsville 2 (Nov. 1)
Here’s the first race on our list this year to take a bit of a hit with the new Chase format, and it’s understandable. Before, the Martinsville fall playoff race set the Championship 4 drivers for the one-race finale. Now it’s “just” the second-to-last race of the season.
Still, has it really lost much? Martinsville is going to be absolutely crucial for the remaining title contenders to position themselves for Homestead. When the race ends, we’ll know the championship-clinching scenarios after a nine-week battle — or there’s always the possibility a driver could even wrap up the title in this race without needing the final event.
Last year: No. 5
9. Coca-Cola 600 (May 24)
Not counting the weather-shortened Coke 600 of 2024, the three full-distance 600s in the Next Gen car have all scored over 90 percent in my “Was it a good race?” poll. They’ve been fun, wild and entertaining — which used to be pretty difficult to claim about NASCAR’s longest race of the year.
Plus, this crown jewel race has extra stage points, which makes it even more important in a championship format that will be set by the top 16 drivers in the standings after Race No. 26.
Last year: No. 6
10. Brickyard 400 (July 26)
This is another example of a race that will benefit from the elimination of the win-and-in format. Last year, Bubba Wallace won his first crown jewel race — and the whole conversation was about how he clinched a playoff spot.
He just won the Brickyard 400! THE BRICKYARD 400! And all the talk was about the playoffs.
Now the Indy winner will get to kiss the bricks and focus on what a tremendous achievement that is by itself — Chase conversation aside. Well, except for one thing: This race will once again be the championship for NASCAR’s In-Season Challenge, so there could be some spotlight on that as well.
Last year: No. 17
11. North Wilkesboro (July 19)
Cover your eyes, Dale Earnhardt Jr.!
This ranking will likely be the one that gets the most disagreement, but I don’t think it’s that big of a hot take to put North Wilkesboro this low. Yes, the July event will be the first points race there since 1996. Yes, the track was crumbling and abandoned before Earnhardt organized a group to clean it up for digital scanning — which then led to an improbable chain of events that saw it re-open for NASCAR racing in 2023.
But while it’s cool to have Wilkesboro back — does it vault up the list even more than this spot just because it’s a points race and not another edition of the All-Star Race? I’m not sure I see that big of a difference between this and the other three events we’ve already watched there.
Last year: No. 28
12. Daytona 2 (Aug. 29)
With the elimination of the win-and-in system, the Daytona cutoff race takes one of the biggest hits on the schedule. This was the classic showcase for the win-and-in, as any driver could suddenly have a Cinderella moment and launch themselves into the playoffs no matter how poorly their season had previously gone.
That’s done now, but there’s still a compelling argument to be made for this race. Those who recall the original Chase will remember many dramatic nights at Richmond Raceway, which was the cutoff race for all 10 editions of the first Chase. Even when only the top 10 drivers in the standings made the field, there was still doubt over who would race their way in and who would miss the transfer.
Surely, that will happen again this season. Will 14th place in the standings be locked in before Daytona? Maybe. But the 15th and 16th spots will probably still be up for grabs, and even drivers in 19th or 20th place might still be mathematically eligible (especially with wins now being worth 15 more points).
So don’t give up on this race being highly compelling again, just without the longest of longshots being eligible to tear away a playoff berth from someone more deserving.
Last year: No. 9
13. Phoenix 2 (Oct. 18)
After six years as the NASCAR Championship Race, Phoenix’s fall date moves to just the fourth-to-last date of the season — the earliest in the fall the race has ever been. Could be quite a scorcher, actually.
Anyway, even though the track has been bumped to a less prestigious spot, this race still matters quite a bit. It’s a chance for the remaining title contenders to get themselves some breathing room before Talladega, which looms large again this year.
Last year: No. 3
14. Las Vegas 2 (Oct. 4)
The Las Vegas fall race has had an outsized focus in the last few years since it provided the first opportunity for a playoff driver to win their way into the championship round.
That is no longer the case, but it’s still another key playoff race and marks the halfway point of the Chase.
Last year: No. 8
15. Kansas 2 (Sept. 27)
Like Las Vegas, this is a compelling racetrack to include in the Chase — elimination rounds or not. You remember the finish of last fall’s race … right?
Last year: No. 18.
16. Bristol Night Race (Sept. 19)
This is an event that could probably move back to August now that there’s no need to have it as the Round 1 elimination race in the playoffs. Still, a Chase race under the lights at Bristol is always going to be a fun time, so we’ll look forward to this one as always.
Last year: No. 13
17. St. Louis (Sept. 13)
Imagine being a time traveler and going back to the first year of the elimination playoffs in 2014 to tell everyone the old Chase would someday return to NASCAR — and World Wide Technology Raceway (better known as Gateway) would not only be on the Cup schedule, but part of the postseason round.
I’m not sure which would be more unbelievable, but here we are.
Last year: No. 21
18. Las Vegas 1 (March 15)
This is the first intermediate track of the season, and boy do those suddenly matter again. The Chase has five intermediates out of its 10 races, including the season finale.
Vegas will be our first chance to see who has what on the bigger downforce tracks after two superspeedways, a road course and a 1-mile track precede it to open the 2026 schedule.
Last year: No. 24
19. Darlington 1 (March 22)
The increase to 750 horsepower (from 670) at some tracks might not make a huge difference, but drivers think it will definitely be noticeable at Darlington.
That should be a fun opportunity to see what the extra engine boost can do for the racing, and Darlington is often a good show anyway.
Last year: No. 25
20. Phoenix 1 (March 8)
Some people hate this term, but this is the first “real” (or maybe “traditional”) oval race of the season. No one is really going to start figuring out which teams are strong after Daytona, Atlanta and Austin. It’s Phoenix that will provide the first real hint.
Last year: No. 14
21 and 22. Atlanta 2/Atlanta 1 (July 12 and Feb. 22)
Cop-out? Yeah, probably. But how do you separate these in terms of anticipation? They’re sort of the same race — just one cold and one hot.
These are two regular-season superspeedway races with no win-and-in playoff spot at stake, but still a chance for a wreck to shake things up in the standings at any time. That said, the summer race is part of the In-Season Challenge (although not the first round this time, thankfully), so I’ll give it the slight nod.
Last year: No. 19 (Atlanta 1) and No. 23 (Atlanta 2)
23. Talladega 1 (April 26)
Again, another race probably hurt by no more win-and-in — but it’s still a superspeedway, and it’s still very possible for there to be some sort of crazy storyline that comes from it. It’s not like you can avert your eyes from a superspeedway race either way.
Last year: No. 26
24. New Hampshire (Aug. 23)
Why is New Hampshire so high despite dropping out of the playoffs, you ask? Great question!
The answer is this is now the second-to-last regular season race with only Daytona afterward, so what happens here could go a long way toward determining both the Chase field and the regular-season championship.
Last year: No. 20
25. Bristol 1 (April 12)
The tires storyline has been such an interesting one over the last couple of years at Bristol, and we still don’t know exactly what we’ll get to see there. But we do know Bristol now has the 750 hp package, which could mix things up a bit.
Last year: No. 10
26: Kansas 1 (April 19)
Intermediate track races are important measuring sticks of strength whenever we get to see them this year, and this one will be no different. And remember: This spring Kansas race was an all-time classic just two seasons ago.
Last year: No. 15
27. Michigan (June 7)
Michigan had the highest “Yes” percentage of any race on the Good Race Poll last season (92.2 percent), and all four Next Gen races at the track have been over 80 percent. Honestly, this should be even higher — we’d like to file a complaint with whoever made this list.
Last year: No. 31
28. Nashville (May 31)
Another non-short track getting the gift of the 750 hp boost this season. That said, it’s in a weird spot on the schedule (following the Coke 600 and entering the buildup before San Diego) and doesn’t have a huge significance to the year overall.
Last year: No. 33
29. Richmond (Aug. 15)
Can Austin Dillon, King of Richmond, make it three in a row? Though win-and-in is gone, there’s still intrigue at this time of the season as the Chase field is nearly set.
Last year: No. 30
30. Iowa (Aug. 9)
William Byron won this race last year after stretching his fuel tank for the final 140 laps. I’m typing that because I honestly forgot about this race and had to Google it — which probably gives a hint as to the anticipation level.
Last year: No. 29
31. Martinsville 1 (March 29)
First real short track with the 750 hp this season. Maybe it’ll make for a better show. Or maybe not. But it can’t make for a worse show than some of the early Next Gen races there, so it’s fine.
Last year: No. 37
32. Circuit of the Americas (March 1)
Oh geez, here we go. Is it time to get into it? I guess it is, but I’ve been putting this off.
Yes, you’re reading this right: The most anticipated road course this season (not counting the San Diego street course) is only at No. 32. Road courses are in a weird spot right now. Shane van Gisbergen enters the season having won five road races IN A ROW (!).
Now, could we see some good races? Sure! Heck, rookie Connor Zilisch might give SVG a run for his money right away. But until someone shows SVG is beatable, it’s tough to sit here in the dead of winter and go “Wow, I can’t wait to see the road courses this season,” after one guy wins every week (and sometimes by more than 10 seconds, which he did three times last year!).
Last year: No. 22
33. Texas (May 3)
We’ve sung the praises of intermediate tracks throughout this column and highlighted why they’re important. But it’s often tough for Texas and its current layout to put on a great show, which also makes it hard to rank this one’s anticipation level any higher.
On the plus side: Great food options in the area, plenty of flights into a hub airport and cheap hotels in the region make this one of the more affordable NASCAR trips.
Last year: No. 36
34. Watkins Glen (May 10)
Brr! We’re still wondering why poor Watkins Glen landed its spot on the schedule in early May. But this is a track where Zilisch could challenge SVG in a great battle, so that could be an interesting one to watch.
Last year: No. 35
35. Sonoma (June 28)
It hurts to put Sonoma this low again, because this is one of my favorite trips of the season, and I love this track. But again … road courses have the SVG problem right now, and this one will be back-to-back with a much-hyped San Diego race (in which SVG probably will be coming off of another win).
At least this is the opening round of the In-Season Challenge, so maybe that will help the storylines here.
Last year: No. 34
36. Pocono (June 14)
Dear Pocono: I really don’t hate you. It’s not you, it’s me. I actually like visiting your area. It’s glorious to sit in the mild summer temperatures on a nice evening at the lovely Nick’s Lake House and have a burger. But also … yeah, it’s still Pocono, and it’s still a weird track that doesn’t put on the best show. So I can’t really put you any higher than this. I’m sorry.
Last year: No. 38
37. All-Star Race at Dover (May 17)
Poor Dover. Two years ago, the Monster Mile had a robust crowd for its April race — and promptly saw its date shifted to the unbearable Mid-Atlantic heat of July last season. Oh, those metal bleachers with that midday sun and humidity.
Anyway, it somehow got worse! Now Dover doesn’t even have a points race. It’s the All-Star Race. At a track with no lights.
Speaking of points, what exactly is the point here? Just make it a points race. It’s difficult to get hyped for this exhibition event. Although if NASCAR convinces the teams to let them open the rulebook in a “run what you brung” type of show, it would quickly become more intriguing (but not that much).
Last year: No. 32 (points race at Dover)
38. Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium (Feb. 2)
I’m going to confess something to you: I wrote this list during the Clash snowstorm postponement, stuck inside my hotel room in Winston-Salem, and I was grouchy.
But even before the snow, there was this feeling of “Why are we even still doing this?” heading into the weekend.
I grew to really dislike the Clash when it was at Daytona. Hardly anyone showed up to watch the cars race in a single-file line before wrecking at the end, and there was zero hype.
Except when the Clash moved to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, it was an incredible, attention-grabbing feat that really showed the power of a preseason promotion to generate publicity for the Daytona 500.
And while the Clash at Bowman Gray was very cool last year, I’m not sure a second one was necessary. The Clash should either be used as a high-powered PR tool or not at all. It doesn’t need to exist just to exist, which feels like the case this year as I grumpily sit through postponements waiting for the roads to be plowed.
Last year: No. 2